Leah and Salchow
by Ixiofim
Summary: Unlike her very Russian older siblings, Leah Katsuki loved Japan. She especially loved her Papa Yuuri's hometown, Hasetsu, a place she visited every summer. One summer, she meets young Nishigori Salchow and for the first time in her life, she feels something like a crush.
1. Chapter 1

_**I have a problem. A serious one. I'm obsessed. I cannot stop coming up with new ideas and writing new fics about our favorite skaters. So, enjoy. And do review.**_

 _ **I don't own YOI**_

* * *

 _Today is my last day in Hasetsu._

 _I'd have to return to St Petersburg tomorrow. And I wouldn't be able to come back till next summer._

* * *

Leah sighed. She would miss the cherry blossoms and the hot onsen baths and the delicious bowls of katsudon Grandma Hiroko made for her. She would miss Minako's ballet class and the ninja castle and skating at Ice-Castle Hasetsu. Most of all, she would miss the cute thirteen year old boy who would smile shyly at her and take her hand as they sat by the ocean.

Leah loved Japan and Hasetsu was her favorite place on Earth. She was different from her very Russian older siblings. At eighteen, Vitaliy and Veronika were five years older than her, and were as different from her as the day was from night. Both of them spoke Russian almost exclusively. Papa Yuuri's attempts to make them develop a taste for Japanese cuisine failed bitterly. They spent time reading Russian books and watching Russian movies. While they had been given the last name Katsuki-Nikiforov, both of them ended up dropping Katsuki from their name in order to fit in better with their schoolmates. Leah, on the other hand insisted on calling herself Leah Katsuki. 'It is only fair that at least one of us carries Papa Yuuri's name.' she would say, as Dad Viktor would joke about how Yuuri was her favorite parent. It was in good fun of course, they all knew that everyone in the family loved each other. They were a perfect family, and Leah wouldn't have wanted another for the world.

Veronika became a figure skater who recently won bronze at the Grand Prix finals and silver at the Worlds. Vitaliy was in college, majoring in History. As for Leah, she hoped that one day, she'd get to move to Japan. She loved Japanese culture and traditions. While Vitaliy and Veronika had forgotten most of the Japanese Papa Yuuri had taught them, Leah was fluent in it. She even learned to read and write the language and read several books in it. She watched Japanese movies and anime without subtitles. She celebrated Japanese holidays with Papa Yuuri. And every summer vacation, she went to Hasetsu, to stay with her Grandma Hiroko, Grandpa Toshiya and Aunt Mari.

* * *

She was at the rink when she met Nishigori Salchow. She wasn't as much into skating as her parents and older sister. However, she did like to do it ocassionally. She greeted Yuuko, a manager at the rink and Papa Yuuri's childhood friend, who was watching the skaters, with her youngest, three year old Flip on her lap.

As she began to skate, she felt a pair of eyes on her, watching her intensely. She looked and saw it was a young boy of about her age who was watching her. He was really cute, with brown hair, dimpled cheeks and large eyes.

'Hi.' Leah said. the boy blushed.

'I am Leah Katsuki.' Leah said.

'Katsuki!' he was surprised.

Leah nodded. 'My dad is Katsuki Yuuri, the figure skater.'

'Oh, that's nice!' the boy exclaimed. 'I love to watch people skate, even though I don't like doing it myself.'

'Oh, I am not that much fond of it either, even though most of my family are crazy about it.'

'I can relate.' the boys said. 'With my older sisters and all.'

'Your sisters?'

'Axel, Lutz and Loop. I am Nishigori Salchow, by the way.'

'Oh!' Leah had heard of the fabulous Nishigori sisters. Dad Viktor had told her a hundred times about how a video they posted led him to meet Papa Yuuri. Axel was now a champion figure skater, Lutz an ice-dancer and Loop a designer who designed ice-skating costumes.

'I am tired.' Leah said, and stepped out of the rink.

'Let's go to the ocean.' Salchow said. 'We can talk from there.'

* * *

From then onwards, it became a ritual. Leah and Salchow would go to the ocean every day. They would sit and talk. Leah would tell the boy about her family and life in Russia. Though Salchow could speak English fairly well, the two of them conversed in Japanese. Leah loved to speak Yuuri's native language.

One day while they talked they sat close together, their hands almost touching. Leah decided to take the chance and she moved her hand so that it was on Salchow's. She looked at Salchow, who reddened slightly but did not remove his hand.

The next day, it was Salchow who moved to take her hand. From then onwards, holding hands at the beach became a ritual for the two of them.

Sometimes, Leah would go to skate. And Salchow would sit, watching. 'You skated beautifully.' he said once. Leah blushed.

* * *

Salchow had insisted he would accompany Aunt Mari who was dropping Leah at the airport. Since both Yuuri and Viktor were too busy with their coaching duties to travel, Leah's brother Vitaliy would be coming to pick her.

Leah was looking forward to meeting her family again. However, she would miss Hasetsu.

She would miss Salchow.

'Leah!' Vitaliy Nikiforov cried at the sight off his kid sister.

'Vitaliy!' she hugged her brother. She then turned to Salchow. 'I guess I have to go.'

'You'll come next summer, right?'

'Of course.' Leah said, and much to the boy's surprise, she kissed him on the cheek. He turned red.

Leah looked at her brother's and Aunt Mari's reactions. Mari raised her eyebrows while Vitaliy just shrugged. Neither of them said anything.

'Bye, Leah.'

'Bye, Salchow'


	2. Chapter 2

_**I had not originally meant there to be more than one chapter to this story. However, I really felt like continuing with it, and so here it goes.**_

 _ **I don't own YOI.**_

* * *

Leah Katsuki sighed.

She was in a hotel room in Kyushu, Japan. Her Papa Yuuri and Dad Viktor were in the next room.

She was finally getting a shot at living her dream of staying in Japan. She had got selected for an international exchange program her school had with a school in Kyushu. She was really excited about it. She loved Japan and its culture and was really looking forward to staying in the country. However, most of all, she was looking forward to being close to her boyfriend, Salchow Nishigori. _Nishigori Salchow,_ she corrected in her mind. She was in Japan now. She had to get used to the Japanese order of naming.

She had been with Salchow for three years. The two of them dated through Skype round the year, except during the summer vacations when she spent time with her grandparents and Aunt Mari in Hasetsu. Long distance relationships weren't easy, and they had many a time decided to split up, and they had even dated other people in the interim. However, each time, they ended up returning to each other.

Viktor and Yuuri did not know about Leah and Salchow till recently. She recently told them about him, hoping they'd take it well. However, Viktor's eyes grew dark at the mention.

'Boyfriend? I have to meet him first.'

Leah had looked at Yuuri for support. However, he seemed to echo the sentiment. 'We need to meet the guy who thinks he's worthy of dating _our_ daughter and see for ourselves what kind of a person he is.

'Salchow is a nice guy.'

That's what all teen girls say about their first boyfriends. However their fathers see right through them.' Viktor said.

Leah's older sister, Veronika assured her that they were just fooling around. 'They said things like that when I started dating Dmitri as well.' she said, referring to her long time boyfriend who she had recently got engaged to. However once they met him, they were really friendly and treated him like their own son.'

Leah would have believed him. After all both her dads were gentle beings who wouldn't hurt a fly. However, she also knew how protective they were of their three kids, especially her, their youngest. She really hoped they wouldn't mess up their relationship.

* * *

Leah was trembling a dads would be meeting Salchow for the first time. What if they disapproved of him?

Yuuri placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She suddenly felt comforted. She loved her Papa Viktor, however she was aware of how extra he could be at times. However, she knew she could trust her Dad Yuuri to make a sensible decision.

Viktor and Yuuri smiled when Yuuko, Salchow's mother who was also a childhood friend of Yuuri's opened the door, with six year old Flip by her side. ' _Ohayo, Yuuko-chan.'_ Viktor said in his best Japanese. Yuuko greeted the couple and Leah likewise.

'Leah!' Salchow suddenly popped up, and much to Leah's surprise, Viktor enveloped him in a hug. 'So you are our future son-in-law.'

'Viktorrr, they are just sixteen.' Yuuri protested.

'Well, Takeshi and I were eighteen when we married.' Yuuko said. Both Leah and Salchow turned red at the implication.

'Ah, look at them blush. The magic of young love!' Viktor exclaimed, causing them to blush even deeper.

* * *

Takeshi then appeared with Axel, Lutz and Loop. Yuuri started to immediately talk about skating to Axel. Axel had recently won the women's Grand Prix, and both Yuuri and Viktor congratulated her for her incredible prowess. They also discussed ice-dancing with Lutz, and raved about the costume Lutz had designed for their older daughter Veronika Nikiforova, an accomplished skater herself.

'Join us for breakfast.' Yuuko said. They eagerly accepted.

During breakfast, every time she tried to steal a glance at Salchow, Viktor would embarrass Leah by gushing about 'the magic of young love', whatever that meant. 'I was not so lucky.' Viktor said. 'My first boyfriend was an asshole who cheated on me many times. But that's okay. After all, I ended up meeting my Yuuri!' he wrapped his husband in a hug. Leah smiled, realizing that her sister was right after all.

'But you better treat Leah right!' Yuuri told Salchow. 'Of course.' Salchow said.

'I'm pretty sure if anyone needs to take care of themselves, it is Salchow. After all, the two of you raised your daughter to not take any shit.' Lutz said. 'Of course.' Yuuri said. 'I hope you treat Salchow right too, Leah.' Salchow gave a toothy grin and took his girlfriend's hand. 'Of course she will.' he said.

Leah smiled. She could not have asked for a better life. Of course, she would miss her dads and her brother and sister and Yurio who was like an uncle to her and her friend Marya (Georgi's daughter), and Yakov who was like a grandfather to her...damn, she would miss hella lot of people. But all the same she was really looking forward to her stay in Japan.


End file.
